What do you do when you see something that’s just not right happening to someone nearby? Do you stand up and say something, or do you stand back and watch?
The role of bystanders in workplace incivility, bullying and harassment incidents is significant and their behaviour can influence the course of events - for good, or for ill (†1).
Bystanders might take no action for fear of becoming the next target of a workplace bully, staying silent to preserve their own safety. Yet a research study (†2) shows that remaining inactive as a bystander can raise the risk of becoming a future target threefold.
What role does the behaviour of bystanders play in establishing workplace culture?
Graham Goulden is a former police officer who’s combined his career experience in crime prevention with his interest in the role that bystanders play in changing the behaviour of others.
In this episode, we hear from Graham about his experience of Life at the Sharp End of creating positive cultural change through the behaviour of bystanders.
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Bystanders can't be neutral
You’re not just an observer, even if you choose to stay silent. Your actions – or your inactions – influence the situation that's happening in front of you.
The fact that you're seeing it happening makes you involved. Graham makes the pertinent observation:
"There's no neutrality; you're never in the middle — you're either passive doing nothing, or you're active doing something.
A bystander's actions (or inactions) have influence and send a message, both to the person perpetrating harm and to the person being targeted.
In an article for Psychology Today magazine, Associate Professor Dorothy Suskind writes that 'workplace bullying cannot thrive inside institutions where employees who witness abuse stand beside the victim and boldly proclaim, "This behaviour will not be tolerated here." '
The person affected makes the decisions
Graham highlights that it’s not always the right thing to stand up and call something out at the time. It might expose the person being targeted to retaliation and further harm, so situational awareness matters.
However, that doesn't mean you should do nothing and stand by. It's the person being affected by incivility, bullying or harassment who needs to make the decisions on how they want to be helped — but they have to know you’re going to be there if they need your help.
Graham shared several tips in this episode describing practical ways that you can offer support to those who've been affected by incidents you've witnessed.
Does standing up make you a target?
The reasons why people don't intervene is sometimes because they perceive they will become a target themselves.
That's not unheard of, but a research study by Rosander & Neilsen (2023) concluded that intervening "does not increase the risk of becoming the next target as opposed to popular belief. However, by remaining inactive as a bystander the risk of becoming the next target is threefold."
Peer intervention as a proactive approach
Graham talks about his own initiative, AS-1 and his work with the Active Bystanders for Law Enforcement program (ABLE) in the United States.
In this episode, you'll hear about the influence of ABLE on Graham's work, and the practical experiences and successes that he's achieved with emergency services and other organisations in developing a culture of proactive peer intervention.
That's not a way to excuse or avoid tackling poor behaviour.
Graham demonstrates throughout our conversation how it's a positive way to intervene that empowers bystanders to prevent harm before it occurs.
That's a big difference from waiting for situations to escalate and taking an 'ambulance at the bottom of the cliff' approach to sort out the problems that arise.
Lessons to learn from Graham Goulden
Graham's career experience as a police officer in crime prevention and violence reduction in Scotland taught him the value of peer intervention for prevention.
At the end of this episode you'll also hear us reflecting on the late Professor Phillip Zimbardo's book, "The Lucifer Effect : Understanding how good people turn evil"
We both conclude this should be required reading for those in leadership roles responsible for changing culture and tackling workplace incivility, bullying and harassment because it teaches (amongst many other lessons) the consequences of 'the evil of inaction.'
"The silence of a wide array of bystanders" has been cited in a study of exit interviews by minority employees who experienced discrimination as a factor increasing their propensity to leave.
Failing to act in support of colleagues experiencing poor behaviour not only causes them additional harm, it contributes to a workplace culture where unacceptable behaviour is allowed to perpetuate.
The lessons from this episode will be helpful when the next incident you witness happens, and you can make the decision on how - not if - you're going to intervene.
Chapter markers
| Time code | Content |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | Introduction |
| 00:02:28 | Graham’s career in policing prevention and violence reduction |
| 00:07:19 | ABLE - Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement |
| 00:13:50 | Terminology - bystanders or upstanders? |
| 00:20:39 | Practical steps to support as an active bystander |
| 00:28:13 | Speaking up to the higher ranks without retaliation |
| 00:33:22 | Male allyship - ensuring men speak up against poor behaviour |
| 00:36:05 | The reality of a supportive intervention |
| 00:42:01 | Developing a high-performing team culture |
| 00:47:45 | Mobbing - how does peer intervention avoid this? |
| 00:53:18 | Zimbardo’s work and the evil of inaction |
| 00:58:21 | Graham Goulden’s contact details |
| 00:59:26 | Lessons to learn for applying active bystandership |
References and links
†1 - Ng, K., Niven, K. and Notelaers, G. (2022) ‘Does bystander behavior make a difference? How passive and active bystanders in the group moderate the effects of bullying exposure.’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 27(1), pp. 119–135.
†2 - Rosander, M. and Nielsen, M.B. (2023) ‘Witnessing bullying at work: Inactivity and the risk of becoming the next target’, Psychology of Violence, 13(1), pp. 34–42.